Mega writes: Another sannyasin left for the other shore.
Bio according to Wiki:
Tony Sheridan (born Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity, 21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), was an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was best known as an early collaborator of The Beatles, (though the record was labelled as being with “The Beat Brothers”), one of two non-Beatles (the other being Billy Preston) to receive label performance credit on a record with the group, and the only non-Beatle to appear as lead singer on a Beatles recording which charted as a single.
More photos: stringbeats.de
In his interview (01.12.2010) in the Nürnberger Nachrichten Ich habe meine kleine Mission erfüllt [I have fulfilled my mission] he says:
Q: What was more important in your life: The Beatles or Bhagwan?
A: (laughing) Both were important. Musically, of course, the time in Hamburg was crucial. One could easily have gone to the dogs. I was spared though; I didn’t take any drugs, merely some stimulants to stay awake. We matured in Hamburg, but the soul missed out in St. Pauli. I made up for it with Bhagwan.
Q: So the music didn’t suffice as a purpose in life?
A: That’s all very complicated. In 1967 I went as a troop entertainer to Vietnam, even though I was not at all interested in politics at the time. That was an 18 months without end. The American GIs were the best audience in the world, they respected that we were playing their music, such as blues, rhythm’n’blues and rock’n’roll. For me that was like receiving a knighthood, because the audience in Hamburg hadn’t really understood what we were doing. After Vietnam nothing was missing for me as a musician anymore, I had seen it all. But I was also exposed to so much evil in Vietnam – hatred, blood, fear without end. It was then that I asked myself about the meaning of life: What is that all about? Today, I’m still seeking, but Bhagwan has shown me a way and changed my life.”
And in another interview in Germany (announcing a concert at the Waschhaus in Potsdam) on 05.10.2012 he was asked the question: The DDR (East Germany) released the recordings of Sheridan and the Beatles. The cultural policy in the mid 1980s was interested in you; there were tours through East Germany. How did you experience these?
A: I felt like I was isolated [...]. You can see all these people, you make music and you know that you can get out of here at any moment, but they [the audience] can’t. Really crazy. At one point, the tour manager said to me, “Hide that picture of Bhagwan which you have around your neck!” I am a spiritual person; it was somewhat bizarre. But I was not a dangerous man, they noticed that. And you could not prohibit the music of the Beatles and all that. I am a little bit proud of the fact that I could contribute something positive there.
Read the whole interview (in German): Interview mit Tony Sheridan, einem Mitbegründer der Beatmusik / Konzert und Lesung im Waschhaus
Obituaries
Telegraph: Tony Sheridan
Guardian: Beatles champion Tony Sheridan dies
Rolling Stone: Beatles Collaborator Tony Sheridan Dead at 72
Tributes
Dissolve into Eternity with Love and Grace and Music, as those were your style, wonderful Prabhu Sharan.
Devada
I was lucky to have met Tony Sheridan once in his home near Hamburg. As a young boy I used to dance in the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, where the Beatles had played, and in the Star Club. Their album ‘My Bonnie’ with Tony Sheridan was a hit at that time. Tony / Sharan was a family man and I cherish our meeting. Fly high blessed soul,
Bhikkhu